Modi raises poll pitch in Punjab, bats for strong and stable NDA govt

Pathankot: Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Friday urged the voters of Punjab to vote for the NDA in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections to ensure a strong and stable government.

Pathankot: Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Friday urged the voters of Punjab to vote for the NDA in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections to ensure a strong and stable government.

Pathankot: Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Friday urged the voters of Punjab to vote for the NDA in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections to ensure a strong and stable government.

Addressing an election rally in Pathankot, Modi said: “Punjab must choose NDA for a stable and strong government.”

Modi’s five rallies in Punjab on Friday would come as a major reprieve for the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance in the state, which is battling a strong anti-incumbency wave here.

Pathankot comes in the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency from where actor-turned-politician Vinod Khanna is the party’s candidate.

Modi praised Khanna for his simple living and connection with the public of Gurdaspur, adding that the Bollywood actor had done a lot for the people of Gujarat during the 2001 earthquake.

“People know Vinod Khannaji as an actor, but in Gurudaspur people know him as a simple man dedicated to service,” Modi said.

“In 2001 when earthquake hit Gujarat, Vinod Khannaji went there as a volunteer and helped Kutch victims, it really touched me,” he added.

Modi also raised the issues of drug problem and fake currency in Punjab, saying these problems need to be uprooted from the state.

“We should make sure the drug problem is reduced in Punjab, similarly fake currency racket is a big problem,” he said.

Modi also used the occasion to target the UPA government at the Centre and urged people to remove the mother-son duo of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi from the helm to ensure a strong and stable government in the future.

"Voters who have already voted have bid farewell to this government. They have already laid the foundation for a stable government in the country. Now, you have to go and vote out this government," Modi said.

"The country has not seen a more corrupt government in its entire history. This country has brought the country to the brink of devastation," he added.

Modi further said, “This mother-son government has ruined this country. You should punish this government by voting it out.”